


Study in the Targeting of Memory Redaction

by spellmotif (orchidhorror)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Amnesia, F/M, Lup (The Adventure Zone) Lives, Lup remembers Taako's life, M/M, Memory Alteration, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 08:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15506295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchidhorror/pseuds/spellmotif
Summary: Taako's show is only getting bigger and better when he stumbles across an elf who knows him, one who he swears looks like she could be his...What was he thinking about again?





	1. Chapter 1

_Redactions of memory are a tricky subject._

_The most common rumor surrounding it is the ‘mention misconception’, the theory that redacting a word in a specific instance would redact every instance of that word in the target’s memory. That may be a great dramatic device, but it’s far from the truth._

_Say you wanted Bob to forget that he went fishing with Alice. If you redacted “with Alice” it wouldn’t erase Alice from his memory altogether, but he would be hard pressed to tell you where Alice was when he went fishing._

_A more fascinating problem of redaction goes as follows:_

_The sentence “Bob went fishing with Alice” becomes “Bob went fishing ████ █████”._

_Alice remembers that Bob went fishing, but not with her. Alice remembers how many fish Bob caught, but not how. Alice remembers seeing Bob, and yet not seeing him, because she does not remember being there._

_Alice was not the intended target of the sentence nor the redaction. If it had been phrased as “Alice went fishing with Bob” and then redacted in its entirety, her entire memory of the event would be gone. As is stands, the first phrase does not wipe Alice’s memory of the event, only of her involvement in it, which is a tricky concept._

 

* * *

 

Everything was going perfect for Taako.

Well, not really, but it was close enough. He and Sazed had finally managed to drum up enough interest in this town for a show, and it had gone well. They had just gotten back on the road when the rain started—heavy rain too, just his luck—and they were forced to stop at a small town on the way.

Right now he was in a dusty candle-lit inn somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but there were much worse points in his life he could remember. At least now he had his show, an assistant, and enough money to make this show his full-time job. He tuned out most of the chatter in the background, instead focusing on his spellbook.

A wizard’s spellbook was arguably the most important item a wizard had, save for maybe their hat, and Taako’s was no different. He’d written in this book for nearly a hundred years at this point. Some things in here were instructions for spells, somewhat like a cookbook, some were little notes he had nowhere else to put, some were too smudged to read properly, but sometimes, when he looked out of the corner of his eye, he could almost see them clearly.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a loud clattering sound across the inn.

“I said, get the fuck out,” the innkeeper said.

Across from him was a tall elf with a wet robe on, standing her ground.

“I did exactly what you said,” she said, “your package is here so you owe me a room.”

There was something about her that seemed familiar, but Taako wouldn’t put it past his mind to think every elf that sounded remotely like him was someone he knew. Traveling was lonely sometimes, and you found familiarity where you could. The man scoffed and brushed the package back behind the bar.

“It’s soaking wet,” the man said, “deal’s off.”

The elf took a step forward.

“It’s barely even damp, and everything outside is soaking wet, so that’s saying something,” she said.

“ ‘s not my fault,” said the innkeeper, “you have an umbrella, use it.”

The woman’s hand twitched closer to the umbrella’s handle.

“Oh believe me, I intend to,” she said, in a dangerous tone.

Taako missed the opening spell, opting to pack all his shit before anyone started firing things off near his direction. It was a good call, because the innkeeper decided the perfect weapon to use in this scenario was a crossbow.

The two traded hits back and forth, but the elf was clearly tired, and at one point she nearly slipped across the floor from all the rainwater dragged in that night. Taako could see the package behind the bar. It was okay, well maybe a little damp but definitely not soaked. He turned back to the elf, who was not in the best position as a crossbow bolt lodged itself into the wall right over her shoulder, taking a small piece of fabric with it. She stood right back up but she wouldn’t last very long.

Fuck, now he had to intervene out of some sense of moral duty or whatever. He carefully packed the last of his belongings up, then waited for the perfect opportunity to fire off magic missiles at the guy.

The man went down after two.

He went to go check on the other one. Seeing her up close, the nagging feeling that she was somehow familiar wouldn’t leave him.

“I had it handled,” she said before he could get a word out, “you didn’t have to do that.”

“Look, I get it, used to being on your own and all that. You don’t owe me or anything, just get out before that dude wakes up again.”

She looked at him apprehensively.

“Thanks,” she said turning away, pulling down her hood as she did.

“Woah there, you look like you could be my…”

“Your what?” she said after a pause.

There was something almost at the tip of his tongue. Some remark about the beaded braids in her hair or how her voice sounded like home or how he could almost remember her face if he didn’t quite try to, but none of those things came out. In fact, nothing really came out.

“Oh,” he said, “family, I guess?”

“Of course,” she said, with a strange look on her face, “you’re Taako!”

It’s possible she could be a relative of his, a cousin, distant aunt, or someone else twice removed. Hell, elves lived long and his family didn’t keep in contact. For all he knew she could have been like a half…. Half. He lost his train of thought, and focused back on the woman.

“Yeah, I know, from TV.” he said.

“No, I think I remember you,” she said hurrying through her words like she was trying to get them all out before they were gone, “maybe we’re cousins or something, I don’t know, but you’re one of the only people I remember.”

Fuck. That sure sounded like one hell of a conversation that he stumbled into. He looked around and sighed. The man would be getting back up again sooner or later, and they weren’t exactly welcome here anymore.

“Sure, tell me that story while we find somewhere else to stay,” he said, “what’s your name?”

“Lup,” she said, but her face fell a little, “at least, I’m pretty sure it is.”

They ended up in the corner of another inn across town, Taako radioing Sazed on his stone of farspeech to relay that they’d have to stay somewhere else for the night. Lup, while she didn’t have enough gold on her for a room, did have enough to get both of them drinks.

“I’m not sure what happened really, but I woke up in a cave months ago and everything was gone, all my memories,” she started, “all I had was my name, this robe, and this silly umbrella.”

“But you remember me?” he asked.

“Yeah it’s really fucking weird,” she said, “it’s not like I just remember meeting you or anything, I remember your life.”

“My… life?” he asked skeptically. “That sounds sketch as hell, my guy.”

“Look I said it was weird,” she said defensively, “I think I saw you grow up. Like working on grandpa’s farm, and auntie teaching you how to cook, and that time you were practicing spells and turned your own hair blue for the whole day, and the spell you fucked up so bad now everything you drink tastes like key-lime Go-Gurt.”

“Huh. Yeah that was me,” he said, “how do you even know that? I don’t think anyone was around.”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” she said, sitting awkwardly with one foot on her chair.

He tried to think back to his childhood, but everything seemed pretty clear. He grew up alone, he’s been alone his whole life, that’s what made him Taako Taaco. He’d know if anyone else was there, right? But any time he tried to focus on that it felt like he’d lost his train of thought, his mind going blank.

“Sorry, I just don’t think I remember you.”

Lup grimaced and took a drink.

“I figured,” she said.

Look if Taako was being honest this was weird as shit, like almost creepy, because he could’ve sworn there was absolutely no one else at his aunt’s house when he turned his hair blue, and he _definitely_ hasn't told anyone about the go-gurt thing, but he couldn’t help feeling a little attached to this elf. He knew what his own family was like, and if she was related to all of them she couldn’t have fared much better in life. Hell, he couldn’t think of a scenario where someone with a good life would end up losing their memory in a cave and have no one looking for them.

So maybe he wanted to help her out. He wasn’t like heartless or anything, and he’d been alone before, that wasn’t easy even with your memories intact.

“So do you have any plans after this or what?” he asked.

“I’ll find another gig from someone, hopefully in a better place than this town. You said you had a show now?”

“ _Sizzle It Up with Taako_ ,” he replied.

“Of course you’d have a cooking show,” she said, smiling.

Something about how she said that made him feel weird, how she could so confidently claim to know him when he didn’t even know her name at first. It was weird to have anyone close to him at all, really.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have an extra magic user on the road, you know, if you’re down for that,” he said in a forced casual tone.

“Wait, really?” she asked. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“Natch, and I want to, it’s my show and I say we need another person as crew,” he said, “you down?”

Lup was, indeed, down. Taako couldn’t say that was the smartest decision he’s ever made, but something about it felt right. He’d never admit it, but something about her made Taako feel like he couldn’t bear to leave her behind.

 

N̬̝̟̩͑̓̕o̲̭̬ͪ͊̍̓ͫ͗t̶̩̼ͬͭ̉͒ͪ ͛a̤̗͔͎ͯ̌͑̋͝g̮̮̼͉̝a͇͉͎̟̞̳̐͑̎̈i̶̿̂̇ͥ͑͋͋n̘̰͈͔̮̅.͖̖̩̏̈́̋́̎ͪ͋

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup settles into life doing the show, and puts on a performance of her own.

A week into her new job, Lup’s days had settled into a hectic but manageable routine. She woke up, went on a supply run if necessary, grabbed something to eat or cooked if Taako let her anywhere near his kitchen, and crossed tasks for the next show off a list they hung next to the door. Repeat until exhaustion, or until she decided to practice her magic some more (that was _technically_ her original job description after all). Different days came with different tasks. Driving days were rushed, boring, and then rushed again in that order. Packing up was panicked, driving was mostly studying until it was her shift, and scoping out the new town was the start of a brand new cycle.

It all culminated, of course, with show days. Sazed had seemed starstuck just telling her about it all: the lights, the glamour, the fans. Lup was a little skeptical, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t busting her ass for this show. Which was why this meeting was so disheartening.

“I've ran the numbers three times, we just barely sold enough tickets to justify having a show tomorrow,” said Sazed.

“There was such a high interest in this town too,” said Taako.

“What, that's it?” asked Lup, bewildered.

“I've called around and promoted the crap out of this event, okay?” said Sazed, “there's only so much you can do to win people over.”

“Yeah you win some you lose some,” said Taako, draped across his bed in the room.

“Look, maybe your first show with us isn't going to be as big or exciting as some of the others, but Taako’s still performing! That's an amazing thing just by itself,” said Sazed

Lup didn't mind the boy but that was about as far she’d go. He was never outright rude to her, and he did his fair share of the work, which she'd come to learn were some of the most important traits in someone you're traveling with. But sometimes his blatant adoration of her maybe-cousin-slash-unidentified-family was a _little_ off putting. She wasn't sure what dynamic she'd stepped into exactly, but she certainly hadn't made it any better with her presence.

“Yeah but that's my point! If I know anything I know Taako Taaco can _cook_ , so we should have an audience member in every seat of our venue,” she argued.

Taako shrugged from his place, but she took that as an acknowledgement of her compliment at least. Sazed looked at her oddly before sighing and handing her a stack of flyers.

“You give it a shot then, it's not like we have much to lose at this point,” he said.

“Such great words of encouragement,” she deadpanned, “I'll be back before you know it.”

Taako sat up quickly at that. She looked at him, frowning.

“Is… that okay?” she said slowly.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding dazed. He shook his head as if to clear it out, “yeah just… stay safe out there, okay?”

She may or may not have looked at him like he'd grown another head at that point, but she ignored that and went out with her umbrella and her flyers. The only reason she was okay with a job that bordered so closely on charity was how much work she was putting into it. She was well aware of the situation that got her the job in the first place, but the last thing she wanted was for Taako to think she couldn't handle herself just fine on her own.

She turned onto the still-busy streets of Briarstone, one in a long series of towns she could remember crossing in the past year or two. She still couldn't process the fact that she'd actually _found_ Taako, who had, up until that point, been the only anchor in the void of her memories. It was strange to know someone so intimately but have no relationship to them at all. Some part of her, maybe a part that got erased along with everything else, was almost painfully sad at that. But Lup could only barely feel it, and even then she couldn't justify it.

Finally she got to the town square where she took inventory. She had maybe about fifty flyers in her arms, her umbrella, the cantrips she knew, and one remaining spell slot.

She guessed she was probably a higher level wizard before everything, but memory loss really was a bitch when your class is entirely based on knowledge. Still, muscle memory did help. For now, that was all she had by the end of the day, which meant she was going to have to find some creative uses for her cantrips.

So for about an hour she tried her first plan: being loud, proud, and unavoidable. That got her maybe five attendees at most, and a whole lot of dirty looks, so she decided to change course.

Leaving the rest of her flyers on the base of the statue of the center, Lup worked on her stage performance skills.

She weaved through the crowd, casting Light on unsuspecting strangers’ hats and shoes, showering them in sparks or putting out the lights above them as they walked, throwing them off guard just long enough that they’d pause to let her make her pitch.

Slowly, a crowd started to form, and it was less about her chasing people down and more keeping the growing group of laughing passerbys entertained, as they watched to see what she would do next.

Soon enough it was well and truly dark, and she had drawn more and more attention, not all of it good. She was in the middle of what she thought was a particularly clever trick involving the brick pathway when two members of the militia approached her.

“Ma’am we’re going to have to ask you to leave. This is an unauthorized public performance, you need a permit,” one of them said.

At that exact moment Lup decided to do something both very stupid and potentially very fun. An unauthorized public performance this shall be.

“Oh I see, these fine gentlemen here are under the impression that this is some sort of performance, huh?” she asked, aiming her question at the watchers, which got a small laugh out of them.

“Maybe even a show?” she asked to the crowd.

A few more cheered and she saw one or two stop walking to watch the spectacle. Lup overacted taking a few steps back and standing on a bench. The officers hesitantly followed, probably unsure what exactly they should do in this scenario.

“I hadn't thought of it that way, I always thought I was more of a show- _off_.” The crowd laughed. A part of her wondered how long she could keep this up while another, adrenaline-fueled forgotten part of herself remembered the thrill of it all, something transcending actual memory.

“But if they want a show maybe I should give them a show, what do you say?” she asked, making a big show of raising her arms up, motioning for the crowd to react. “Maybe something like this?”

She went into this with her cantrips and her imagination, and now she was truly stretching the bounds of both. With a step backwards onto a nearby table and a flick of her wrist, she snuffed out every light in the square in quick succession, plunging the area into darkness. With her darkvision she could see the militia members gathering closer and closer.

With a dramatic swish of her umbrella, she brought back the light in the middle of the square, and only that light, several times brighter than it was before. The crowd cheered her on.

“Or maybe acrobatics is more your style,” she said.

She jumped down from the table and, thinking quickly, cast Dancing Lights, immediately combining them into a glowing humanoid figure inhabiting the same space she was. She didn't know for certain, but if the gasps were any indication it had worked correctly, and a humanoid being made of light was barely visible over her own body.

With a deep breath she crumpled down onto the floor, making the humanoid first copy her movement, then proudly stand back up, a fake light copy of her, an imitation of her ‘soul’, but breathtaking nonetheless. She collapsed it, splitting it again into four glowing balls of light that were now circling the edges of the crowd like clockwork. She could hear nothing then, absolute silence from the crowd.

Then with an almost imperceptible movement she willed the lights up and up and up, spinning around and going higher and higher until they reached the limit. At which point she formed them back into the humanoid light shape. She readied herself, then brought the light figure back down to her body with a swan dive. The second it reached her body she rolled to her left and back on her feet, pretending her ‘soul’ had returned to her body

The crowd went wild. She bolted across the square and away from the militia men, who had gotten dangerously close to her during her last stunt. She should probably call it a night soon, which in her mind meant there was only one thing left to do:

Climb onto a big statue.

“Seriously lady you're gonna have to leave,” one of the men said as she began her ascent.

“Hold that thought,” she said, nestling herself over the statue’s shoulder and pausing for a moment, listening to the crowd chant something she couldn't quite make out.

“Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?” she asked. And after blowing out the last light in the center, she set her hands ablaze.

“Almost sizzling maybe?” she heard a few whistles, and a whole lot of clapping.

“These nice militia officers are insisting, even though I wouldn't really consider this a show,” she started. Unfortunately, one of them had managed to grab one of her legs and pull her down. Ouch, that would hurt in the morning. It was right about now that she should probably make her exit.

“This’s been ya girl Lup, if you want to see a real show, stop by Sizzle It Up with Taako tomorrow at eleven in the morning,” she shouted hurriedly as she gathered the rest of her belongings.

“West edge of town, free food, can't miss it, five silver at the door!” she yelled as she sprinted away and out onto the streets, determined to lose them before she went back to the inn.

But just as she was leaving she really heard it, just how loud the cheering was.

She really hoped tomorrow would be a good show.

 

* * *

 

When she came back it was probably well past midnight, but Taako was still just barely awake at the kitchen table, hunched over what she assumed was his spell book. He didn’t offer any excuse other than “pre-show day anxiety”, but she could’ve sworn he was almost a little relieved when he saw her walk through the door.

Lup didn’t tell either of them what happened that night, maybe she didn’t want to jinx it or maybe she just wanted to keep it a surprise. Either way, all she told Taako was that she sold maybe twenty more tickets, and all she told Sazed was there might be a few more buying them at the door.

“A few more” was an understatement.

At least a hundred more showed up last minute, so many that Sazed called her outside to help him with ticketing. And as she did she could’ve sworn she caught a few pointing, or her name being whispered.

She went back in to put the last touches on show prep and ran into Taako.

“Now, maybe my counting skills aren’t what they used to be, but that sounds like a _little_ more than twenty,” he joked.

“Guess you’ll just have to see for yourself,” she said.

She made sure she was looking at the stage when he did. He barely even faltered, but she was looking close enough that she could see a moment of real shock.

“What a showing from Briarstone, am I right?” he said, and the crowd went mad.

Lup found herself smiling. Beaming, even. After a while she had to go back, hand off the ingredients to Sazed who brought them out onstage, start grouping the silver pieces together for exchange, the non-glamorous work. But just before everyone left and they started cleanup, Sazed called for her.

“Taako wants you out in the stage area,” he said, motioning for her to come quickly.

The show was technically over by now, Taako was handing out samples and signing autographs. Sazed went back to manning the merch area. But she saw what he meant when he talked about show days. The lights, the glamour, the fans, it really was breathtaking. At the end of it all, she passed out in her room after fielding what seemed like a million questions about the night before, and figured it had at least bumped her relationship with Taako up to  _friendly-ish_.

Maybe she’d been a little too skeptical of show days.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins don't know how to talk about emotions yet, but they can crack jokes and make hot chocolate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for descriptions of dissociation.

Sometimes it felt like Lup’s dreams were every memory she had left, playing on repeat. She saw Taako, walking alongside the beach collecting shells. Taako, on his tiptoes to reach the tallest shelf. Taako, trying desperately to put out the flames that… _someone_ had created.

It was her. But who?

Early on she knew she was Lup. Someone had very kindly burnt her name on the inside of a cave. She also knew, on some level, that she took the place of the observer in those memories, but that was where her mind started to strain.

She was Lup. She was the observer. The observer, her brain provided, could not be Lup.

  
_Who was she?_

_  
_ She was.

  
She was.

  
She was someone, falling down hard on the cold stone floor of a cave in a flurry of red movement. She was Lup, Lup who traveled and learned lessons the hard way but could still trust her gut and her gut told her she shouldn’t stay too long in one place. She was the person she built around her lack, and identity based off forgetting.

  
She was… awake?

  
That she was, shaking and sweaty and breathing too shallow. It was better before, before she worked for the show, before she knew Taako. Then maybe she could pretend like it was all fake, something she’d made up for her mind to hold on to. But he was here, those were his memories. Or more accurately, someone’s memories of him.

She walked to their small kitchen, more out of habit than anything else.

“You look like shit.”

That badly startled her. At the table sat Taako, who probably looked worse than she did. He attempted to make some kind of greeting gesture with his hand, but it just ended up sliding down the side of his face.

“Pot, kettle,” she said with an eyebrow arched.

Taako snorted. He cast a Mage Hand that shot across the room, slowly filling up a glass of water while he rested his head on the table.

“Sit down then, fantasy Anastasia.”

Lup noticed then that she’d been standing very stiffly in the corner for a few minutes. She relaxed her posture and took a seat next to Taako, who was struggling to focus on keeping the cantrip up.

Their silence wasn’t comfortable. It stretched like lycra, tight and slightly suffocating. So Lup focused on the window, on the stars, on her breathing, on anything else really.

“Are you okay?” she asked. He squinted, meaning either ‘do you see me right now’ or ‘what’s it to you’, then sighed.

“Night terrors, you?”

“Something like that,” she said.

He could always meditate, she thought. Lup had discovered the hard way that A, meditation was a learned skill, even for elves, and B, immunity to sleep spells was too. She’d pieced together enough from watching Taako in her memories to do it in a pinch, but it was still unpleasant. A quick way of manually moving information around your brain maybe, but nothing more. She didn’t voice any of her thoughts.

Instead she stood back up and started gathering ingredients from the small bags they had and the fridge, the strangest mix of muscle-memory and hard-to-recall knowledge.

“What,” said Taako, “are you doing?”

“Making hot chocolate, you need it,” she said.

He lifted his head off the table to look at her questioningly. She ignored him along with any hesitation a part of her may have had about this.

“Don’t forget the-”  
  
“Cinnamon, I know,” she said with a quirk of her lips. She knew hot chocolate didn’t taste quite right without it, but also couldn't remember the taste. Memory. Non-memory. The feeling of nostalgia for something you can never go back to. Something pulling her off-center, like Lup but one inch to the left. A sick feeling in her stomach. Her brain feeling like it was swimming in murky water. She stirred the hot chocolate.

“Is it weird?” she asked to silence.

“I haven’t made up my mind on that yet,” he said.

She kept stirring. She kept trying to wrangle her thoughts away from reaching out. From rationalizing _‘Taako just doesn’t know how to deal with someone knowing him. He just always has his guard up’_. She wasn’t supposed to know a stranger like the back of her hand and she sure as hell wasn’t supposed to care. She slid a cup of hot chocolate across the table to the other, barely-awake, elf.

It’s been months since she'd gotten this job and she still couldn't tell if it was a good thing. If after every complicated emotion it brought with it, Lup could still parse them well enough to tell if her life was better or worse knowing. Knowing Taako? Knowing about her memories in general?

She didn’t even notice that Taako had stood up until he was suddenly back at the table again, mixing something into their hot chocolate mugs. He looked just as sleepy as before, but maybe slightly less _tired_ , there was a difference between the two.

“Instant coffee,” he said, “I don’t blame you for not knowing, it’s a Taako original.”

She stirred hers and took a sip. It _was_ slightly unfamiliar, but not in a bad way.

“I cracked that mystery only near my mid-hundreds, so I don’t think you’d have that in your brain,” he joked, “you make it like auntie used to.”

“Oh shit, I need the new update. Taako memories two point oh,” she laughed. He cracked a smile.

There were definite pros to staying on. Not the least of which was having a steady job, but maybe most important was not being alone. Lup had, as far as she could tell, been a people person. She didn’t know, but that statement felt right to her.

“I’ve made up my mind,” announced Taako.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s weird as _shit_ , but at least you’ll come in handy when I need to publish my biography,” he said, slipping back to his most tired pose with his head on his wrist.  
  
Her head felt a little lighter, maybe relief that he didn’t find her existence in general to be intrusive. She felt more _real_ , like she could feel her emotions all the way to her fingertips and she was firmly in her body. She still had the rest of her problems to deal with, but those would come later. One day at a time, Lup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter probably contained one (1) foreshadowing and one (1) vague hint as to what happened to change the plot, but mostly a whole lot of Lup feelings. Please take it, it was such a pain to write.
> 
> On another note: Not that I update this story on any kind of regular schedule, but it might update more/less frequently (depending on the circumstances) since I'm starting university again soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup tries to figure out what's really happening, before something goes horribly wrong.

The first thing Lup was aware of was that she was asleep. The next thing she knew was that something was truly, _terribly_ wrong.

Lup did not dream lucid. Lup (usually) did not Trance instead of sleeping. But this was eerily similar to what everyone described it as. A tangle of memory fragments stood in front of her, less like pictures of events and more like the feeling of knowing that they happened. Everywhere else was empty black void.

“Lup?” said a high voice behind her.

She spun around quickly, which echoed in her dream space. A tall, undefined figure stood behind her. She couldn't quite see what they looked like, but she got the brief impression of the color red.

“Listen, we don't have that much time, I need to know exactly what you remember,” said the figure.

“Who are you?” asked Lup.

The figure stood still, as if unsure of what exactly to say, then spoke again.

“That…. that isn't as important right now. I'm _really_ gonna need you to start figuring out…. _this,_ ” the figure said, motioning towards the tangle of memories.

“Happy to,” said Lup, “but I'm afraid I don't have a clue what's going on.”

“Okay, sure, explanations,” the figure said hurriedly, “you’re not awake right now. I mean, not _really_ , you’re lucid enough though which is good. This is where you go when you meditate. Or, it would be, if you _did_.”

“Didn’t you say we were in a hurry?” Lup asked, glaring at the figure.

“I was getting to that,” the figure replied, exasperated, then rushed through the rest of their explanation, “ _you’re_ basically trancing, _those_ things are memories your brain needs to process, and _I_ can’t help you, because I have no clue what’s going on outside this place.” They gestured as they spoke.

Lup turned back around to look at the memories. Well, maybe ‘look’ wasn’t the best word, but dreams were hard to describe in waking life words.

“Something is wrong, I need to get out of here now,” she said to the figure.

“Sure, be my guest, fry your brain! See if you’ll be of any use awake when your memories look like _that_ tangled mess.”

Lup froze. As someone who’s already had quite a bit of damage to her brain in the form of memory loss, she wasn't eager to make a habit of it.

“For a spooky ghost guide in my brain, you could try being a little nicer, you know.”

The figure sighed and moved over to where the impression of the memories were.

“How about this: you tell me as best as you can what you remember, and I’ll make sense of this mess?”

“Deal,” Lup said, falling into a cross-legged sitting position on the floor, “what do you need to know?”

“Let’s start with this morning.”

 

* * *

  


That morning.

It was show day.

The social structure of this town wasn’t something Lup was really familiar with at first, but she caught on quick. Dress flashy, walk proudly, act like you had more money than you could spend in a lifetime. All it required was a bit of creativity and a good deal of calling around venues acting like she knew what she was doing, and then there was a show scheduled.

The morning wasn't any different from other show days over the past few years, Lup thought. There was no reason it wasn't a clear-cut memory.

She made breakfast because Taako slept in. Sazed looked nervous, and maybe a little overworked, carrying stacks of paper and pounds of ingredients to and from places like his life depended on it.

Taako came out, gave her a look as if to ask “are we okay”, then sat down when she handed him a plate.

Simple memory. Uncomplicated beginning

 

* * *

 

That same memory was now pinched between the figure’s fingers, which was concerning because Lup didn't notice it having distinct fingers before, or anything that wasn't a blob of energy.

It did not look like an uncomplicated beginning.

The figure placed that memory above the tangle, as if pinning it to an invisible wall. Several other strings branched off from it.

“Okay… this is a start,” they said.

“It shouldn't be that complicated,” Lup breathed, frowning.

The figure paused again, tugged at a string, and gave off an aura of confusion for a brief moment.

“Why did Taako give you that look?” they asked.

“I… honestly can't remember,” Lup said. And she couldn't. Trying to remember things beyond that day’s memories was difficult, as if they were somewhere else entirely.

The figure, seemingly abandoning that lead, grasped another memory entirely.

“This seems like it's the last one. What do you remember last before you ended up here?” asked the figure.

“I…” Lup tried her best to concentrate, “I was in the wagon, I think? The one we use for storage.”

 

* * *

 

This memory was significantly fuzzier than that of this morning.

She was holding a small glass bottle up to the light in an effort to see what was written on it. Her back was turned to someone. Lup couldn't remember for the life of her what was on that bottle now.

A sound of shuffling fabric came from behind her and she quickly spun back around. Not fast enough.

Sazed was there. He was holding something in his hand, some kind of sphere. He hesitated for a moment, looking absolutely terrified.

Then slowly, the ball crashed into her and cracked against her temple, shattering as it sent her falling to the floor. Red smoke filled the room. Sazed ran out, and closed the door shut behind him.

 

* * *

  


“Oh,” the figure said simply.

“Yeah,” said Lup.

This was more confusing than anything. The figure had now isolated a beginning and an end to the timeline of events, but it made no sense to Lup.

“That ball,” the figure started, “I've seen it used before to store spells. I think I know what's going on a little more clearly now.”

“Do you?” snapped Lup. “Do you really? Because I have no clue what's going on, maybe less of a clue than when we started this.”

“It's called Ariadne’s Sleep,” the figure said, “it’s the only kind of sleep spell that will work reliably on elves.”

Lup moved closer to her memories, listening to her footsteps echo along the pitch black floor. She kneeled down and touched the latest one, and felt several other ones strongly connected to it.

“Why would he do this?” asked Lup.

The figure didn't answer.

“Why would he carry around a spell meant to put elves to sleep?” she asked again.

The figure went back to the first memory, and more confidently pulled at another thread.

“Here’s hoping we can find out,” said the figure.

 

* * *

 

Lup was setting up for the show. This one started at six, nearly sunset. Ingredients, cooking utensils, lighting, everything needed to be ready by then. Thankfully it was still just about noon, which meant basic prep only. Double check ingredients, set them aside at safe temperatures, make sure things (and locations) are clean, bring more merch out of storage, the list went on.

“Hey Lup,” Sazed said, startling her. He carried dishes out of their storage wagon, giving Lup a tight-lipped smile.

She nodded to him, focused on taking inventory. A few minutes later, she heard a clatter as plates and bottles landed abruptly on the table. Sazed hurried out of the room.

She turned her head around and saw Taako standing in the doorway, staring dumbfounded at them. She raised an eyebrow.

“You _did_ talk to him, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said, “we got it all cleared up.”

She made a sound that, translated from Taacospeak, meant approximately “doubt that”.

“Doesn’t look like it,” she said, picking up the plates and organizing them with the rest.

“I don’t know what he expects,” said Taako, “I couldn’t even fit two names on there, much less three.”

“Don’t drag me into this,” she said, though not with any malice, “the Lup™️ name will stand on its own in a few years, just you see.”

“Leaving already? Traitors, all of you,” he joked.

She grabbed a set of measuring cups and wiped them down.

“Seriously though, be nice,” she said, frowning, “he’s been doing this job for years, Taako. He’s known you longer than I have.”

Taako tensed beside her when she says that. She looked over at him, and he looked like he was trying to figure out something complicated in his mind. Then, just like that, he relaxed.

“I’m always nice, Lulu,” he said.

Then she smacked him with her towel.

But something was different about this set-up, the Lup who was now fast asleep realized. On the table, near the dishes and cleaning supplies, was a small apothecary bottle that hadn’t been there before.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup put things together and hopes it isn't too late.

“Sazed was jealous?” asked Lup.

The figure next to her murmured their assent. Their form grew sharper and more in focus the longer she spent here. Lup wondered whether she should worry about that, then decided she had bigger problems. That, and their form gave her a headache to look at.

“Hope you’re ready to a lightning round,” the figured said.

“Wha-” was the last thing Lup said before the figure tugged, _hard_ , on her memories. Suddenly Lup was enveloped in another without warning.

  


This wasn’t happening in her dreamself’s brain anymore, but all around her. The memories pinned in the air were gone, the stark blackness of it all was gone. Now she stood in front of herself hours earlier.

 

She was selling tickets at the door. Usually this wasn’t her job, Sazed looked a little tougher to the average person and that seemed to discourage people from trying to steal, or cause trouble. Trying was the operative word here, she could take them down no problem if need be.

She wasn’t supposed to be here. Nothing was _wrong_ here. Not that she remembered, anyways.

“Your past self thinks otherwise,” the figure said.

They were right. Past-Lup was turning around to look at the stage, squinting. She didn’t understand. She didn’t _remember_ this.

Current Lup tried walking towards the stage, and found that the memory let her, even if it was a little more blurry.

And then she spotted them.

Sazed brought out the bowls usually reserved for samples, which were glistening in the light of the setting sun. Not the way something cleaned with effort did.

The way something _wet_ did.

 

Then she wasn’t there anymore.

  


She and the figure were someplace else. Then, Lup started to remember. This was the inn the three of them stayed at a few days ago.

Taako was sprawled across the couch, while she had her back on the floor and her legs on a chair. Sazed was sitting normally in a chair as he tried to get Taako’s attention.

She knew how this story went now. She knew that Sazed would ask to have his name next to Taako’s. She knew that Taako would say no while she practiced her cantrips and pretended not to listen. She knew Sazed would try to argue his case, then Taako would gesture to her and say:

“There’s three of us, Sazed. You know Lup’s filled in for me before. Besides I’ve already got this brand and it just uh, it won’t _work_ is all.”

Then Sazed stood up, knocking his chair backwards.

“There were _two_ of us before you decided to take on charity cases,” he said.

“What the _fuck,_ Sazed? Lup’s my _family,_ ” said Taako.

Past-Lup spun her legs off the chair and stood up. She saw Sazed’s face as the regret set in when he processed what he had said.

“No, it’s okay,” she said coldly, “ _this_ charity case has work to do anyways.”

And then she left, and the memory pulled harder, and-

  


And then she was on the stage.

Her voice was pitched down, but sounded braver than it had any right to be with the glaring lights obscuring the audience. Sazed helped more than usual, passing along ingredients and measuring cups and making sure she didn’t fall down wearing Taako’s shoes.

He’d been sick that day, she remembered, lost his voice and couldn’t perform. So they made use of the one person who looked enough like him to copy him. It didn’t hurt that she remembered his life and could copy his mannerisms easily enough.

Sazed was a little upset. Current-Lup thought he might have wanted to just take over that day. The audience knew him, after all. Maybe in another universe, one where she hadn’t met Taako, he would’ve gotten his day in the spotlight. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered at all.

She understood him a little better. The lights, the crowd, _being_ up there was different from seeing it. It was almost addicting. Lup didn’t want to leave this memory.

And then a hand grabbed her, and the figure pulled her back out from the deep end of her memories.  


“Sorry,” they said, or maybe she, “I lost sight of you for a second there.”

 

Current-Lup saw her past self handling tickets again, this time it was darker. She caught herself staring at the bowls again, and got a strange look on her face. Then, the last seat for this show sold, past-Lup ran for the storage wagon with current-Lup following close behind her.

Sazed was in there, she guessed he wasn’t in the show today for one reason or another.

“Hey, what’d you do to the plates?” her past self asked, unaware of her fate.

“Huh?” he said, jumping a little. Lup tried to reach out to her past self, but there was nothing she could do from her memories.

“Look,” she started, sounding annoyed, “I get you want a bigger role in this, but you shouldn't mess around with Taako's recipes, _especially_ with transmutation involved. So what is that, like, olive oil?”

She spotted the small bottle in his hand, and so did her past self, who looked confused. This was it, this was what Lup needed to figure out.

Sazed didn't answer

“Sazed, it’s not a big deal you just have to clear these things with someone,” she said, trying to be kind, “I’m _sorry_ you couldn’t get your name on there. I know you’d been working here for a while before I ever came along.”

“It’s fine,” he muttered, sounding anything but, “I don’t think _he_ would’ve let me _anyways_.”

Lup watched this unfold.

_What did he do?_

She noticed the figure in the corner, watching too.

“Well at least let me check,” her past self said, oblivious, “I remember Taako’s transmutation practices, though probably not as well as he does.”

“What?” he asked, jerking back, “no it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Past-Lup frowned and crossed her arms.

“Seriously, what’s up with you today? Hand it over,” she said.

All three of them looked at Sazed, whose hands started shaking visibly.

“Sazed?” her past self asked, hesitantly.

He looked up at her, at which point she yanked the bottled from his hands.

And Lup could only watch as she turned her back to him, holding the bottle up to the light outside to read the label in the dim wagon.

A chill ran down her spine.

It read, in a faded cursive script, “Arsenic”.

Her past self turned back around to Sazed, looking like the floor had just fallen out from under her.

He stared at her with a look of pure fear on his face.

Then the glass ball shattered against her head, and then she was on the floor. Since when was she on the floor? The world grew darker and further away as she drifted off into sleep.  
  


Lup stepped back, and the dreamspace returned to its default black.

 

This time, where there was once a tangle of memories there was now a stringle string, woven together from many others and pulling straight down to the floor.

The figure threw what looked like a rolled up ball of it to her, which was where the string ended.

“Adriadne’s Sleep?” she questioned.

The figure grinned, “nice catch.”

She took a moment to let the latest revelation sink in. Sazed had arsenic in that bottle. Sazed put arsenic on the plates. Everyone at that show as in danger. _Taako_ was in danger.

The figure realized that too.

“You should hurry,” she said. Lup nodded and went to leave, then paused and looked up at the figure.

“One last thing,” she said, “why _did_ I need two of me to figure this out?”

There was a short pause before the figure started laughing.

“Well, shit,” the figure said, laughing, “I guess the jig is up, huh?”

And where there was a somewhat blurry figure there now was a very clear image of her. Well, not _her_ , a more ghostly guide version of her. Lup guessed her brain thought that would be more appropriate for this somehow?

“Let’s just say I know a little more than you're allowed to,” said the other Lup.

She then looked her in the eyes and her face turned deadly serious.

“Lup?” the other Lup said. “Run.”

And then Lup was being pushed to the floor. She hoped this wasn’t turning into a habit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay folks! Last chapter before I head back to university. Hopefully I'll get more done on the way there, because I'm awful at writing with a schedule in mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup wakes up.

Lup woke up in darkness.  
  
Waking up was jarring. She felt almost like she was possessing the version of her she saw in her memories. Her identity crisis needed to wait, though. She flexed her hand then brushed aside bits of broken glass so she could prop herself up using her elbows.  
  
She cast Light, illuminating the darkened wagon, and ran to the door. She desperately tried to twist the handle harder and harder, but the door was locked.  
  
Of course it was.  
  
Lup debated breaking open the window, when her umbrella jolted forward in her hand and cast Knock.  
  
She did not _know_ Knock, but she couldn't find it in her to care as she rushed out, muttering a thank-you just in case her resident mysterious figure had taken an interest in helping her out again.  
  
Outside the wagon she took in a whole new scene.  
  
It was dark now, nighttime proper. To her left was the stage area, its current state still unknown to her.  
  
Scratch that, there was screaming coming from it and it didn't sound like the excited kind. Its current state was probably "oh shit, fuck, danger!"  
  
To her right Sazed was leading Taako to the main wagon, and the latter looked like he was having trouble breathing.  
  
And for a second Lup almost didn't think about it. Taako was in danger, and he was all she ever knew. But then she stopped.  
  
Lup had just started to become more of a person, have an identity, and part of that identity was performer.

Her stomach sank.  
  
There were hundreds of people gathered around the stage in Glamour Springs, and she led them there. If she didn't do anything she would have led them to their death.  
  
So Lup took one last brief look at Taako, and one long breath, before sprinting as fast as she could onto the stage.  


* * *

  
Sazed wasn't talking to him.  
  
Taako couldn't quite catch his breath. His lungs felt tight and painful, like they didn't want to be part of his body anymore, and Taako didn't blame them. He'd leave his body too if he could.  
  
Sazed wasn't talking to him, and Lup was _gone_ .  
  
People started getting sick, and he couldn't find her anywhere around the stage area. She usually watched his show.  
  
She must've seen him there, must've realized how badly he fucked up, and ran for it.  
  
He couldn't blame her.  
  
Sazed avoided his gaze, walked to the front of the wagon, and drove them away.  
  
Taako curled up as small as he could.  


* * *

  
Lup dodged through fleeing crowds and somehow managed to elbow her way onto the stage.  
  
"Okay," she panted, putting her hands on her knees.  
  
"Everyone listen up!" she yelled as loud as she could once she could breathe again.  
  
Most of the crowd looked up to her, some gasping. Lup brought her wrist up to her forehead to wipe off the sweat, and stared at it when it came back red.  
  
Oh, right. Broken glass bad.  
  
She heard someone in the crowd scream again, and focused. Arsenic. What did she know about arsenic? Not much, but death by it wasn’t instant, so she had at least an hour.

“My name is Lup, you might have seen me earlier. If uh… if someone you see or came with is sick but you aren't, I'm gonna need you to pay very close attention,” she said.

About a dozen more heads turned towards her, and the crowd quieted down. She could hear their wagon starting to pull away. Shit, she needed to make it quick.

“We think someone… _tampered_? Yeah that's a word for it,” she mumbled the last part under her breath, “someone tampered with the samples for tonight’s show.”

“You're going… um,” she froze, staring at the crowd.

She could see them, and she remembered some of their faces. Hell, some were kids. Lup swallowed and tried again.

“You’re going to be fine, but listen to me. You need to get to a healer as soon as possible. Tell them you have acute arsenic poisoning, uh,” she stopped as eyes widened around her, “you there! The halfling man with the hat? Are you feeling okay?”

The man nodded.

“Make sure no one runs anyone else over,” she said, and ran.

Lup could hear commotion behind her as she pushed people out of the way to get back to the road. She did, just in time to watch their vehicle drive off into the distance.

She felt her eyes stinging as she tried in vain to run after it. Taako. He wasn't safe, he didn't know what was going on at all.

She slowed down and looked around her. She couldn't steal anyone else’s ride; she probably looked suspicious enough sending several dozen people to the healers for arsenic poisoning. Thankfully, she kept her umbrella with her at all times or else it would be gone by now.

She looked down at it. It would be great if evocation was more travel-focused right now. She'd tried to get into transmutation just based on having seen Taako do it and therefor having some prior knowledge, but evocation called to her in a fundamental way that nothing else had.

Wait, transmutation.

Lup wasn't that good at it in practice -- it would be hard to cast it with just her focus. She looked around. She was on a dirt road, perfect. Lup hadn't lost sight of them yet either.

As fast yet as accurately as she could, Lup traced the pattern, used the component, and recited the spell. It would've taken less time with her umbrella focus, but components were a little like training wheels for lower level spells, and Lup needed those training wheels right now. Then, the last word out of her mouth, she smiled triumphantly.

Lup cast Longstrider.

She took a deep breath, then sprinted down the road as fast as she could.

 

* * *

They were far from Glamour Springs now.

Taako could feel the wagon moving faster and turning more sharply than usual. Sazed was probably pissed. It was getting darker, but Taako couldn’t bring himself to cast a light cantrip. His hands were shaking something serious.

The wagon jumped up and crashed back to the ground with a jolt.

Taako held onto the sides tightly.

A sound behind them caught his attention, one that was getting worryingly closer with every second.

“Sazed?” Taako tried to call, but his voice came out in a whisper.

“Sazed!” He tried again. This time Sazed turned to him sharply and shot him a glare.

“What?” he asked. Taako shrank.

“I think something is following us,” he said.

Sazed turned back to see, and promptly turned back around as the wagon veered slightly.

“I’m busy, you check it out,” he barked, but he looked shaken.

Taako shakily stood up and looked outside the back. At first it looked completely still, but on closer inspection it seemed like there was a figure darting around in the darkness, at a steady distance away. He was about to report this to Sazed when suddenly it light up, bright as fireworks in a pitch black sky, and it closed in on them.

Taako barely had time to roll aside as something jumped into their wagon with them. He looked up so fast he could barely register the scene in front of him.

Lup was standing up inches away from him, radiant and furious. Her left hand was holding a ball of fire dangerously close to their canvas covering, while her right pointed an umbrella straight ahead of her. Straight at Sazed.

“What. Have. You. _Done?_ ”

Lup had, up until now, been solving problems as they came. She was running on adrenaline and single-minded focus, checking off tasks until she got here, but she was out of tasks. The second she paused on that wagon, her emotions hit her full force. She could feel it. She could feel the flame in her hand grow brighter, feel herself grasp her umbrella tighter in her hand, feel the fire growing in her fists and in her chest and around her throat.

And then she saw Taako, and everything flooded her all at once.

“I said, _stand up right now and tell me what you have to say for yourself!_ ” she screamed.

Sazed, moving faster than she had ever seen him move, turned around and held his empty hands up in front of him.

He looked at her like he had just seen a ghost.

“You left dozens of people to die,” she said, taking a step closer.

He tried to back away, then remembered he was at the edge of the wagon. Lup kept going.

“You couldn’t get your way, so you decided that their lives didn’t matter anymore,” she continued, voice cold as ice.

“Lup, _stop_ ,” said Taako, “I did it. I messed up the transmutation.”

For a few seconds, Lup stood frozen where she stood. There was a part of her brain that tried to make sense of how fucked up that was, and it came up empty.

“No,” she said quietly, shaking her head.

Slowly, deliberately, Lup moved forward. She threw her umbrella aside and grabbed Sazed by the cuff of his shirt, swinging him up into the air and holding the flame in her hand precariously close to his face. He flinched back.

“He did,” she said, her fist trembling, “and it wasn't a mistake. It would've been _slow_ , and _painful_ , and _deliberate_ . The same words I would use to describe someone’s face melting off if he doesn't start _explaining himself_ -”

“ _I didn't mean for them to die!_ ” he yelled. And without fanfare, Lup dropped him onto the floor, where he fell into a crumpled heap.

“I didn't mean it,” he breathed, “I swear I didn't mean it I didn't know it could kill them. I didn't think they’d get _that_ sick!”

“Then what were you trying to do?” she asked. “You carry around arsenic for shits and giggles now? Is that a new fun thing we do in food prep?”

“I didn't mean for _them_ to die,” he mumbled.

She heard Taako's breath hitch.

“Sazed?” Taako asked from behind her.

Lup moved towards Sazed again, but he convulsed backwards.

“You were supposed to die,” he said, looking Taako dead in the eyes. “The arsenic on the sample plates was diluted. I thought maybe one or two people would get sick, at most. Enough to get you to taste the food and see what was wrong. Your tasting spoon… well, you didn't use it.”

Taako stared at Sazed, mouth agape.

“You tried to kill me?” he asked, in disbelief.

Sazed let out this horrible, strangled laugh. “You're really that surprised?” he asked.

He tried to stand up, but his whole body was shaking. “I've been working with you for years. _Years,_ Taako! I admired everything you did, I did everything you asked! The one time _I_ wanted _anything_ you said no. I just wanted credit for what I did.” He took a deep breath, then another. Lup could tell he had been holding that in for a while.

“I'm sorry. I really, _really_ am. I don't know what came over me but I just got so angry and I couldn't-”

“You spread that diluted arsenic solution over about forty plates, one by one,” Lup interrupted him, barely hiding her contempt, “which you went out and bought, at least a day prior. When, oh? By the way? You bought a bottled sleep spell specifically designed for elves just in case I tried to stop you _from murdering the only family I have_ -”

She stepped towards Sazed, but Taako held out an arm to hold her back. She looked at him in shock.

“Taako please,” Sazed pleaded, “you know I didn't really mean it, I was just so upset-”

“No, I get it,” said Taako nodded, helping him off the floor.

“Y- you do?” asked Sazed.

“You do?” asked Lup, in complete disbelief.

“Yeah, credit where it’s due and all that, Taako gets it,” he said dismissively.

“You mean it?” asked Sazed.

Lup saw Taako flinch, but he just shrugged and tried to play it off.

“Oh for sure, for sure. I didn't realize it meant that much to you, Sazed. How about this?” he asked, smiling.

Taako brushed some dust off Sazed's shirt, and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Take credit for Glamour Springs,” he said, and firmly pushed Sazed off the wagon.

Taako’s shaking hand hovered in the air for a few moments, then he slowly pulled it back as his mask of confidence disappeared.

It would’ve been more dramatic if the wagon had been going any faster than average running speed, but no one had been driving the thing for a few minutes. Shit, the wagon. She could probably drive this, right? Maybe not in her current state. Her mind was all over the place right now, and she couldn’t keep herself still. She’d been so worried about Taako, and so _angry-_

Her thoughts were interrupted when Taako rushed towards her and tightly wrapped his arms around her. She stood still for a second just to process what was happening. He was okay, and so was she.

“It’s okay,” she said, partially for her benefit, “we’re okay.”

Taako didn’t hug people, that just wasn’t his thing. She was sure of that because she couldn’t remember him hugging anyone after the age of fifty. It wasn’t like his family— _their_ family—was that affectionate to start with, but still.

“I thought you’d left,” he mumbled into her shoulder.

Lup hugged him back as hard as she could.

“And go where, dingus?” she said.

But she felt her grip getting weaker, like the stuff that made her muscles work was getting more and more slippery.

“Lup?” asked Taako. She must’ve swayed or something.

Wait, fuck.

“Oh right, I’m bleeding,” she managed to get out.

For the last time that day, and for a long time, Lup lost consciousness. 

This time though, she didn’t hit the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around this long! 
> 
> This is the conclusion of the little Glamour Springs arc. I'm not completely in love with it, but it was surprisingly fun to write and gave me more of an idea where this story is going to end up. (Hint: it'll be a while.)
> 
> I'd like to have a more consistent update schedule and a buffer, so I might take a little longer to write ahead before posting again.   
> (Watch me not do that then post in two weeks because I need validation though.)


End file.
